Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Friday (October 2, 2026) held a massive roadshow in the Madurantakam (Reserved) Assembly constituency in Chengalpattu district, about 80 km from Chennai, where a byelection is scheduled for October 6.

Campaigning for TVK candidate Maragatham Kumaravel, Mr. Vijay began his roadshow at Mamandur on GST Road around 2.30 p.m. Fans and supporters flocked in large numbers along the entire route of the Chief Minister’s cavalcade. In course of his four-and-a-half-hour roadshow, Mr. Vijay traversed through about three dozen villages. His cavalcade passed through Karunguzhi, Ayyanar Temple Junction, Mocheri, Thandalam, Perumbakkam, Sempoondi, Elapakkam, Kil Athipakka, and Melmaruvathur Adiparasakthi Temple Junction, before culminating in Therady Street in Madurantakam.

Along the way, he stopped by to have tea at a shop and interacted with locals at some points, including L. Endathur, Kiliyanagar, and Sempoondi. In Ramapuram village, he got off his campaign van, borrowed a tractor from a local farmer, and drove the vehicle through a field.

Maragatham Kumaravel, elected from the constituency on AIADMK ticket, resigned from the Assembly on May 25 and then joined the TVK, less than a month after the Assembly election results were declared, thus necessitating the byelection.

Unmindful of the hot and sultry conditions, fans and supporters lined up GST Road since forenoon to catch a glimpse of their tinsel hero-turned-politician. Perched atop his campaign van along with the TVK candidate, Mr. Vijay waved at his fans at every junction and received gifts and letters even as his supporters showered petals and flowers on him. At the Melavalampettai, supporters presented him with a spear, a sceptre, and a bronze statuette of Lord Murugan.

Mahalakshmi, a second-year BCA student, was among the large number of starry-eyed youngsters who had gathered along the route. Barely 18, she has just applied for inclusion in the electoral rolls and will not be able to vote in the byelection. “I am here to catch a glimpse of him. I will perhaps vote for him next time after seeing his performance. But I have faith that he will do a good work,” she said with a smile.

Spotted among the crowd was Mohammed Moinul, a young tailor from West Bengal, standing with a TVK flag in one hand and his phone on the other. Asked what attracted him to the spot, he replied, “Joyful frenzy”.

While the entire stretch of GST Road spanning Madurantakam was dotted with traffic congestion since the morning, the situation became acute during the roadshow. The police found it difficult to control the crowd, who took up position along both sides of the road, slowing down traffic considerably. Though temporary metal barricades were put up all along the route, the supporters did not find it difficult to cross them. It took more than an hour for the congestion to clear even after the cavalcade passed a particular point.